Title: Consumers purchasing new homes - trust and taste building through e-service and competence in the housing market

Authors: Minna Autio; Jaakko Autio

Addresses: Department of Economics and Management, Consumer Economics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 27 00014, Finland ' Department of Political and Economic Studies, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 54 00014, Finland

Abstract: Our study examines the issues of how service company and customer experiences meet each other in service innovation, and how trust is negotiated in their interaction. We focus on a customer-oriented interior decorating e-service for clients developed by a construction company. Through qualitative material we analyse what constructs trust in the company service encounter. E-service is seen by the customers as a playful tool for visualisation and decision-making concerning their future homes, and by the company as a cost-effective and affordable tool for their clients. Consumer trust is built through company personnel competence, expertise and integrity, alongside with company brand, reputation and personified customer relations. However, trust in taste seems to be an integral part of home-related consumption. A consumer's individual taste contests with the 'average taste' of companies and industry.

Keywords: consumer trust; average taste; individual taste; customer experiences; service innovation; personnel competence; personnel expertise; personnel integrity; company brand; company reputation; personalised customer relations; personal service; housing market; qualitative research; house buying; new homes; e-services; electronic services; interior decorating; construction industry; visualisation; decision making.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2013.059574

International Journal of Services, Economics and Management, 2013 Vol.5 No.4, pp.328 - 340

Received: 03 Jul 2013
Accepted: 14 Nov 2013
Published online: 30 Apr 2014 *

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